Hempstead principal remains on leave over no-Spanish order

By Allan Turner |
January 14, 2014
| Updated: January 14, 2014 4:12pm

Hempstead school trustees on Monday deliberated on the fate of a middle school principal who allegedly admonished students not to speak Spanish on campus, but took no action.

District spokeswoman Laurie Bettis said Hempstead Middle School Principal Amy Lacy, placed on paid administrative leave after the alleged December incident, will remain on leave. No date, she said, has been announced for reaching a decision.

Bettis said 54 percent of the district's students are Hispanic. About 360 attend the middle school. The district has no policy against speaking Spanish on campus, she said.

"We are continuing to 'create a culture of excellence,' which includes embracing all students of all cultural and diverse backgrounds," the district said in a statement. "Our priorities are our students."

Bettis said Lacy has been middle school principal at least five years.

Alfonso Maldonado, president of Houston's LULAC Council 60, which is not involved in the case, said his office investigates about six such cases in workplaces and schools annually.

"We don't get as much as back in the old days," he said, "but it still occurs."